Customer Reviews

The High Crusade

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I had high hopes for this movie when I first learnt that someone was going to make a film version of Poul Anderson's classic novel, but somewhere along the way the producers decided to make this as a comedy movie instead of a straight action adventure story. Stupid beyond belief, the powers that be missed the chance to turn a great action story into a great action movie. Dumb. What should have been a stirring space epic with bold knights in armour, treachery and villainous aliens becomes a tedious - and cringingly bad at times - waste of time. One day, perhaps, someone will have the guts to make a proper film version of Anderson's great book.

This film has a good premise and excellent material to work from, but does not avail itself of it. This is a passable movie that could have been great if it had followed the novel more closely. If you are under 15, see the film...if you are older, read the book. It is an excellent work to read.

Sorry, but this is a dismal movie. It starts badly when the credit blurb on the packaging says Paul, not Poul Anderson. Not only is it completely unlike the book but the attempted humour almost entirely misses the mark. The human characters are portrayed as complete imbeciles and the aliens are not much better. I accept that compromises have to be made when adapting novels to screen, but why bother with the license in the first place if you are simply going to use the title and ignore the plot?

When I found this movie, I was excited. I've been a serious fan of Poul Anderson's work since I started reading. "The High Crusade" has always been one of my favorite books by Anderson and I have long thought that it would make an excellent movie. I still think it would make an excellent movie. Unfortunately, this is not it.

I was completely surprised by the direction taken by the screen play and direction of this movie. Or maybe shocked would be a better word. It had simply never occurred to me that Anderson's book would be interpreted as a comedy. Certainly, there is humor in the novel, but it is basically a story of high adventure with some very serious elements balancing the humor. There is none of that in the movie. Brown (the screen writer) and Knoesel & Neuhauser (the directors) extracted elements from the book and used them as a skeleton on which to build a second rate "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

This movie was almost painful for me to watch because I could see enough of the novel on the screen to know that a good movie could have been made from "The High Crusade." The SFX, though a little cheezy by current standards, are still acceptable. The cast was adequate, though some of the parts would have been cast differently if this were not a comedy, I'm sure. Certainly, John Rys-Davies makes an excellent Brother Parvis and he is one of the few redeeming factors of this film. And the few scenes taken from the novel were almost watchable. But the overall tone and direction were not even remotely true to the novel. Frankly, even fans of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" will be disappointed because it's just not that funny.

If you have never read the book, then you may find this movie mildly amusing. If you are a fan of this classic science fiction novel, then I recommend steering clear of this movie. It will taint your good memories of the book forever.

I was disappointed that this was not an adaption of the very funny Poul Anderson book. Other that a credit to him and the fact that the story involves knights and aliens, there is scant relationship between the book and the movie.

This movie is more akin to Benny Hill than Monty Python. Very low brow and broad.

That said, the movie was mildly amusing. Not worth buying unless you find it in a cut-out bin.

I can see that the typical reviewer isn't impressed with the film... That's a pity. I suspect most of the reviewers are not British, and thus aren't "getting" the gist of the humour in the film.

Let me say first of all that OF COURSE this film is not high art. It's comedy - and very British at that. Sometimes it's plain silly, but very FUNNY plain silly.

I found the film amusing. There were many moments that had me laughting in that typically "Oh dear, I shouldn't be laughing" fashion that any Monty Python fan ends up perfecting. For example, the bit with the horse... the alien's arguments with the priest... the chastity belt... the wedding night... and the orgasmic finger.

If you can simply watch this film on its own merits, and if you enjoy Pythonesque humour, I can't see why you won't find the film providing you with plenty of laughter.

NOTE: I don't see any problem with the dubbing. The version I have is Zone 4, Australian, and of course we tend to get British rather than American versions here. Perhaps that makes a difference.

THE OLDER I GET, THE MORE I DREAD THE POSSIBILITY OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS BEING TURNED INTO A MOVIE. "RAISE THE TITANIC" WAS A PERFECT EXAMPLE, OR ANYTHING WITH THE NAME "TARZAN" ON IT. OH, I KNOW, NO DIRECTOR CAN EVER MAKE, NO ACTOR CAN EVER PORTRAY, OUR LITERARY HEROES THE WAY WE IMAGINE THEM, BUT COME ON, NOW! THIS IS THE STORY OF A HUGE SUPER-TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY WHO COMPLETELY UNDERESTIMATES A PRIMITIVE, BACKWATER SOCIETY AND GETS THEIR BUTTS KICKED IN THE PROCESS. IMPOSSIBLE? ASK THE VIETNAMESE. THEY DID IT TO US IN ALMOST THE SAME WAY. ANYHOW, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A REALLY GREAT MOVIE WITH A MODEST BUDGET AND NO MORE SPECIAL EFFECTS THAN IT HAS. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO MAKE A COMEDY OUT OF IT?PLEASE..PLEASE..PLEASE KEEP THESE BUTCHERS AWAY FROM "A PRINCESS OF MARS". LEAVE SOME THINGS SACRED!

I just bought this DVD a few weeks ago, the price was right and I quite liked the novella. I agree with the others, its not like the book, but quite frankly, the book wasn't this funny. Its British camp humour, with a lot of stock character actors turning up in strange places, and the narration is excellent.

If you wanted this to be the movie of the book, don't watch it. If you just want an unpretentious laugh, with some clever dialoge, see it.

I've got a dubbed version of this on video quite a few year when it was on T.V. which is absolutely excellent, I live in England and can't get The High Crusade on DVD over here. So I got the U.S. version, all I can say is it's terrible. In the british version, all the aliens were dubbed with hilarious English accents and didn't sound like dodgy Jawa's out of Star Wars.

All I've got to say is, watch the English dubbed version if you get the chance. It's a completely different movie...

A liberal humorous interpretation of Poul Anderson's book by the same name. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The sight gags range from subtile to outrageous. The general mood is similar to Mel Brooks' "Men in Tights." Listen carefully to the dialog as it is quite witty.